3 years 5 months 15 days

Day 1263. Because this week schools are on holiday in Vienna, the kids did not have French class yesterday. Instead I was gonna teach from 3 to 6 pm, but then my first two lessons were canceled and I only taught at 5 pm. In the morning, the Mobile Support lady as well as the cleaning lady were with us.

This morning I trusted my alarm clock Emmy, but in fact it was Sammy who woke up first. Tammy was also in bed with us, which is rather rare, as she'd had a rough night, waking up frequently. I was very tired and stayed in bed as long as possible. It wasn't even 9 am yet, when my Mom arrived. She hadn't been to our house since November. The kids were still having breakfast. I cleaned them up and dressed them, and we all went downstairs.

It was Sammy who'd been asking about Grandma several times every day. I asked him to show Grandma  how well he played the drums, and he enjoyed playing them. Grandma had brought a book with her that she read to Tammy and Emmy. Tammy then wanted to draw, so I gave her paper and crayons. Sammy then also wanted to draw. With Grandma busy with the kids, I sat at my desk right there, which is very rare these days, and did some important filing. It wasn't 11 am yet, when Grandma said that she needed to leave. She had actually come because of Randy's birthday tomorrow and had brought a small birthday cake for him.

After she'd left, I went to the kitchen to make lunch. Soon everyone else also came upstairs. Just after 12 we sat down to eat. Everyone ate well, and the boys had icecream. Then they continued watching the video they had started before lunch. At 1:15 I put them to bed for their nap and sat down by them. I was extremely tired and knew I just had to get a nap in if I wanted to teach from 3 to 6 pm. I let the kids know how much I needed to sleep myself and how much I therefore needed them to fall asleep, but today it was Sammy who was giving me a really hard time, and I still don't know what the problem was. He was unhappy and crying, not the usual mischievous boy. I had to come back and sit down by him before he finally fell asleep. Then I left to go lie down myself. It was 1:45 pm.

At 2:30 pm I woke up; I heard Randy getting Sammy ready to leave with him for his physiotherapy session. Emmy also woke up in the process, and then it didn't take very long for Tammy to also wake up. They started watching videos and playing, while I was getting ready for my 3 pm class.

The next two hours seemed to never end, as my teenage student did not want to work today and was in a bad mood, always saying he had no clue, when he at least should have known the answer. It's hard to teach someone, when they don't want to be taught, especially for two hours. I was exhausted. I also had to help the kids out a few times. Just after 4:30 pm Randy and Sammy finally returned, and he took them all downstairs. I then had a great lesson with an adult from 5 to 6 pm. After I was done I took some time to get ready for my 8 to 10 pm lessons, then went to the kitchen to make dinner for the kids. Just after 6:30 pm we sat down at the table to eat, then they continued eating in the bathtub. After we got them out and ready for bed, I sat down with them so we could read a Bible story. They've really been enjoying those comig Bible stories and are listening very closely. Then I prayed for them and flew them into bed. It was 7:40 pm, so I was able to sit down by them for 10 minutes. Then Randy took my place, while I was getting ready for my classes. At 8 o'clock I started teaching and finished just before 10 o'clock. I then still needed some time to wrap everything up, before I could get myself something to eat, sit down and take a few minutes to relax, before downloading today's pictures to work on them and then write my report. Now it's 1:30 am and time to clean up the kitchen and go to bed. I have to teach in the morning.